Hair detangler

ABSTRACT

A hair detangling power device with rapid reciprocating movement and having specifically shaped and spaced comb means, including a central reciprocating comb that is straddled by outer fixed comb means with the reciprocating comb having teeth longer than the straddling comb means and the teeth being disposed to avoid any squeezing, pinching, or curling of the hair so a rapid shaking and detangling movement is applied to the hair. Additionally, a means is provided to dispense fluid into the combs if desired.

United States Patent [1 1 Ryckman, Jr. et al.

[ HAIR DETANGLER [75] Inventors: William D. Ryckman, Jr.; Fredrick T. Meeks, both of Asheboro, NC.

[73] Assignee: General Electric Company,

Bridgeport, Conn.

[22] Filed: Mar. 27, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 345,451

[52] US. Cl 132/11 A [51] Int. Cl A45d 24/00 [58] Field of Search 132/137,11, 120, 148, 132/112, 136-137; 74/55; 34/91-92; 15/22 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,572,399 2/1926 Lewis 132/136 2,685,292 8/1954 Staiano 132/120 3,272,023 9/1966 Ferguson et al. 74/55 3,474,795 10/1969 Hantman et a1. 132/11 1 Nov. 26, 1974 3,477,447 11/1969 Eldredge 132/9 3,524,088 8/1970 Ryckman, Jr. 15/22 R 3,613,257 10/1971 Yashiike et a1. .34/91 3,702,616 3/1971 Mercer 132/9 Primary Exar ninerG. E. McNeill Attorney, Agent, or Firm.l0hn F. Cullen; George R. Powers; Leonard J. Platt 5 7 ABSTRACT A hair detangling power device with rapid reciprocating movement and having specifically shaped and spaced comb means, including a central reciprocating comb that is straddled by outer fixed comb means with the reciprocating comb having teeth longer than the straddling comb means and the teeth being disposed to avoid any squeezing, pinching, or curling of the hair so a rapid shaking and detangling movement is applied to the hair. Additionally, a means is provided to dispense fluid into the combs if desired.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures HAIR DETANGLER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION straddling comb and having specifically oriented teeth to avoid any squeezing, pinching, or curling of the hair and provide a shaking and detangling movement only.

2. Description of the Prior Art Tangled hair is a daily problem for most women and some men. It has been found that a pair of parallel combs reciprocating with respect to each other, much like the blades of an electric knife, is a great aid in untangling hair. The action seems to be one of rapidly and lightly shaking the hair while pulling the comb through it causing potential knots to slip through and become untangled rather than to tighten. Generally, present detanglers provide comb movement much like the electric knife using adjacent single or double combs with the same length teeth and this requires careful placement to avoid scratching the scalp, and results in a squeezing action on the hair. Additionally, the early art of curling irons used adjacent manually reciprocable combs designed to put a curl or wave into the hair by squeezing it into a waved position under the influence of fluids or heat, or both. It has been found desirable to improve the present electric knife type of motion of two adjacent sets of reciprocating teeth that results in harsh, uncomfortable action to the user as well as an undesirable shearing-like and curling and squeezing action on the hair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described, the invention is directed to a hair detangling device with a supporting handle having power means therein to provide rapid reciprocating movement. Alternate fixed and reciprocating comb means extend longitudinally of the handle and are spaced transversely of each other to avoid rubbing against one another. These comb means comprise a pair of spaced outer combs supported from the handle and separate inner comb means attached to the reciprocating means and straddled by the outer comb means. The inner reciprocating comb has teeth longer than the straddling outer comb means and the teeth on both are spaced and aligned so that they come into alignment during a stroke and are disposed to substantially avoid any squeezing, pinching, or curling of the hair. In the preferred arrangement the entire device is sealed so that it may be used on wet hair, may be battery operated, and means are provided to dispense a fluid onto the combs and thus into the hair if desired. The result is a rapid, gentle, shaking and detangling movement only that is applied to the hair as the detangler is drawn through it in the manner of combing the hair. Thus, the main object of the invention is to provide an improved hair detangler that is safe to use in a wet environment, that provides only a shaking and detangling movement to the hair, and is not irritating to the scalp.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of the detangler showing the combs and sealed connection;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the alignment of the teeth during a stroke;

FIG. 3 is an end view showng the combs and spacing; and

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view showing a dispenser associated with the detangler.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a hair detangling device that has a supporting handle 10 with power means therein to provide rapid reciprocating movement to shaft 12 with socket 14 to receive a tool for reciprocating movement. The entire device is sealed by a flexible boot 16 that may be cemented or clamped to the socket and housing 18 to provide the seal between the reciprocating shaft and the handle 10. As thus far described, the device is generally shown in US. Pat. No. 3,524,088 of common assignment. That patent illustrates a dual motion battery-operated toothbrush which, simplified for a single motion, may be used herein. The particular transmission structure forms no part of the present invention and reciprocation may be supplied to shaft 12 by operation of button or switch 20 to operate the internal motor which may be a plug-in type or preferably, as shown, is battery operated so that the detangler may be used in a wet environment.

The power means, whether house current or battery, is designed to provide rapid reciprocating movement in the 2,000 2,500 strokes per minute range and this is what is meant by rapid reciprocating movement as used in the claims herein. In order to provide a detangling and unsnarling action on the hair, there is provided a spaced outer comb means 22 that is supported directly on the handle to extend longitudinally thereof and is fixed as shown in FIG. 1. The outer comb means is formed of a pair of combs as shown in FIG. 3 designed to straddle an inner separate comb means 24 which is connected to socket 14 for rapid reciprocation within the outer comb means 22. Both comb means extend longitudinally of the handle and are spaced transversely to avoid rubbing one another and prevent any shearing action on the hair as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. A desirable detangling action has been obtained by the use of the pair of fixed comb means 22 acting in conjunction with the single comb 24 reciprocating at about 2200 strokes per minute.

For the right motion and best detangling action, it has been found desirable that the separate comb means 24 be provided with teeth longer than the straddling spaced comb means 22 as shown. If the teeth are the same length and the handle is tilted slightly the outer teeth will engage some hair in the fixed teeth that is not being engaged by the moving teeth and it is possible to catch a tangle in one of the outer teeth where it just hangs up on the fixed tooth and never sees the reciprocating comb to shake it free. By having the center reciprocating comb teeth longer as shown in FIG. 3, all of the hair that is engaged by the comb will be contacting the longer center teeth and will therefore be agitated and detangled. It is also desirable for best detangling to provide an interrelation between the reciprocating and fixed teeth as shown in FIG. 2. The stroke is arranged so that each tooth of the reciprocating single comb 24, during its complete stroke from the solid position shown at a to the dotted position shown at a moves directly behind, while preferably maintaining some overlap at all times, with a stationary tooth 22. In other words, over the complete stroke of the long reciprocating tooth 24, a continuous overlap, such as 26, is preferably maintained with the stationary tooth with the result that a reciprocating tooth is in longitudinal alignment with a corresponding fixed tooth some time during a stroke preferably at the midpoint of the stroke. The result is substantially no hair can be caught in openings between the teeth so as to be subjected to a shearing action.

A shaking and consequently detangling motion only is applied to all the hair engaged because of the long center teeth and the overlap between preferable reciprocating and fixed teeth. This shaking occurs whether the comb is tilted or not or in all hair-engaging positions and tends to untangle any snarls in the hair more effectively. Additionally, the better agitating or shaking action has the advantage of removing any objection-- able dried hair spray to thus clean the hair for a subsequent shampooing. There can be substantially no shearing action on the hair because of the preferably continuous overlap and the transverse spacing that prevents any rubbing action between the combs.

It is possible to dispense water or a conditioning or toning agent directly to the combs when then distribute it into the hair without any spraying by providing a suitable plastic tank 28 that may extend part way around the comb housing 18 and be glued thereto. The tank may be filled through a stoppered hole 30 and a suitable squeezing action such as at flexible button 29 on the tank causes the fluid to be drawn through feed tube 32 and be discharged through tube 34 to dispense a quantity of fluid into the space between the combs to be distributed along the length of the comb by capillary action and by the reciprocating motion of the inner comb. Any suitable dispenser may be provided and this is merely an example.

The detangler thus provides a rapid shaking and detangling action, no shearing on the hair, a cleaning action by the shaking, side thrust is taken by the outer fixed comb to greatly reduce the friction loading of any drive mechanism, the unit may be cordless and more convenient for safer use directly on wet hair and it is possible to vary the teeth spacing on the combs to provide a coarse comb for the first pass and a finer comb for finishing up when the relations of spacing, alignment, and overlap all as disclosed are maintained. Also, the entire unit may be sealedto protect the drive mechanism from cleaning solutions or moisture from wet hair.

While there has been described a preferred form of the invention, obvious equivalent variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practised otherwise than as specifically described, and the claims are intended to cover such equivalent variations.v

We claim:

1. A hair detangling device having a supporting handle,

power means in said handle providing rapid reciprocating movement,

a pair of spaced outer comb means supported from said handle,

separate comb means attached to said powered reciprocating means and disposed to be straddled by said spaced comb means, said separate comb means having teeth longer than said straddling spaced comb means, the teeth of said separate comb means being transversely spaced from the teeth of said outer comb means and longitudinally aligned to substantially avoid pinching, squeezing, or shearing of the hair, whereby a shaking and detangling movement only is applied to the hair in all hair-engaging positions of the comb means.

2. Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said spaced outer comb means is fixed to said handle and said separate comb means reciprocates within.

3. Apparatus as described in claim 2 wherein said comb means extend longitudinally of said handle and said separate comb means is a single comb having its teeth in alignment with teeth of said spaced outer fixed comb means during a stroke.

4. Apparatus as described in claim 3 having the comb teeth and reciprocating motion interrelated so that each tooth of said reciprocating comb at all times during its stroke overlaps the correspond teeth in said outer comb means so no shearing action is provided on said hair.

5. Apparatus as described in claim 4 having seal means between the reciprocating comb and handle, and battery operated motor means in said handle.

6. Apparatus as described in claim 5 having means to dispense a fluid into the combs. 

1. A hair detangling device having a supporting handle, power means in said handle providing rapid reciprocating movement, a pair of spaced outer comb means supported from said handle, separate comb means attached to said powered reciprocating means and disposed to be straddled by said spaced comb means, said separate comb means having teeth longer than said straddling spaced comb means, the teeth of said separate comb means being transversely spaced from the teeth of said outer comb means and longitudinally aligned to substantially avoid pinching, squeezing, or shearing of the hair, whereby a shaking and detangling movement only is applied to the hair in all hair-engaging positions of the comb means.
 2. Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said spaced outer comb means is fixed to said handle and said separate comb means reciprocates within.
 3. Apparatus as described in claim 2 wherein said comb means extend longitudinally of said handle and said separate comb means is a single comb having its teeth in alignment with teeth of said spaced outer fixed comb means during a stroke.
 4. Apparatus as described in claim 3 having the comb teeth and reciprocating motion interreLated so that each tooth of said reciprocating comb at all times during its stroke overlaps the corresponding teeth in said outer comb means so no shearing action is provided on said hair.
 5. Apparatus as described in claim 4 having seal means between the reciprocating comb and handle, and battery operated motor means in said handle.
 6. Apparatus as described in claim 5 having means to dispense a fluid into the combs. 